William Campbell Preston. I obtained the incident from Dr. Carlisle of Wofford College, to whom I am indebted for inspiring counsel and helpful suggestions in preparing this paper, and others on kindred topics. The venerable doctor is himself a warm admirer of Preston, Calhoun, and McDuffie, three of the great Carolinians of the "old regime." Dr. Carlisle writes : " Co lumbia papers speak of the original ' Nullifi cation Ordinance' etc., being found, with other documents. This reminded me of an interview I once had with Judge D. L. Wardlaw. Knowing that he had met many of our prominent men of his day, I asked him : " Among all the fine speeches you have heard, which one occurs to you at once as perhaps the most striking?' He answered, " President Jackson's Force Bill reached Columbia late on Sunday night, by stage. The legislature was to meet next morning and adjourn to attend the college commencement. When we met, the pro clamation was read, and it was determined not to adjourn. Mr. Preston, delegate from Richland, took the floor, and for ten or fif teen minutes reached the highest flight of effective oratory I have ever heard. Ex pert reporters were not found then, and Columbia had no daily paper; perhaps the ' Charleston Courier ' of that day may have some reference to it." Mr. Preston, as I have already said, had many of the qualifications of the orator. In the first place, he had a splendid pres ence. His striking appearance was illus trated by the impression which he is said to have made upon strangers while on his European trip. A writer says : " I have been told that on his visit to Europe, in his younger manhood, both in London and at Paris, admiring crowds followed him when he appeared on the streets. I can well be lieve it. I suppose no one ever saw Mr. Preston without being satisfied that he was looking at a very extraordinary man." We may say what we please, but we are obliged to admit that an orator's general
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style and appearance have a great deal to do with the impression which he makes. A man with the kingly presence and manner of Toombs, a speaker with the courtly style and the majestic, imposing form of Preston, commands the attention of an audience from the very outset, and enlists their interest and admiration. In speaking of Preston a writer says : " I have never seen a face with such a power of expression. When he talked with you, it was his habit to lean forward, and, holding his face straight before you, so that you took it all in, fix you with his eyes. The face and eyes expressed the thought so clearly that you knew what he was about to say before he spoke. It happened to me, in talking with him, not infrequently to answer him before he had spoken. He would seem, I thought, flattered, and would kindly re lieve my embarrassment with a pleasant smile. Others have told me of having had a like experience." In the second place, Preston had a magnificent voice; his chest and lungs were well developed. Says Dr. Baer: " Nature had gifted him with a splen did voice. The breadth and depth of his chest were notable. He told me that while in England he was invited on one occasion to speak in the open air to an assemblage of at least ten thousand persons; that some of England's eminent orators were present and spoke; and that he was told that he was the only speaker that had been heard with ease by every one present. He added, modestly, that it was largely to be accounted for from the fact that speakers in America were more frequently than over the water called upon to speak in the open air." In the third place, his independent spirit and ardent love of liberty had much to do with his success as an orator and statesman. Eloquence thrives best and only in an atmosphere of freedom. Slavery in any form chokes and stifles it. Mr. Preston was in the highest sense of the term an indepen dent man. He cringed and bent the knee before no one. He did not know what it
